Major League Baseball Owners Split on Selig's Successor

BALTIMORE—For the first time in 45 years, baseball's owners are publicly split on electing their next commissioner, with factions backing different candidates and no clear consensus heading into baseball's equivalent of a papal election Thursday.

Retiring Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig has long backed his right hand man, Major League Baseball chief operating officer Rob Manfred, as his successor. But recently, a surprising insurrection headed by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has become public,...